Monday, July 3, 2017

Canada Wasn't Born in 1867

Canadians across the country partied this weekend in honour of #Canada150. But
while July 1, 2017 did mark the 150th anniversary of Confederation, the
celebrations were also more than a little bit misleading. Canada isn't
150 years old, and Canada Day isn't really its "birthday".

This summer, I'll be hosting a new web series: Canadiana is on the hunt for the most incredible stories in Canadian history: Canadiana. Our first episode — about the bizarre history of "O Canada" — will be coming soon, but in the meantime, we've been posting nuggets of Canadian history on social media. And since the suggestion that our country "began" in 1867 is bizarre and misleading, I took to the Canadiana
Twitter account on Canada Day to do a little ranting on the subject.

You'll find my Twitter essay embedded below, and for more tweets about the history of Canada you can follow us on Twitter at @ThisIsCanadiana or like us on Facebook.